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11 Jun 2015

The EU is not just about business and trade

I’ve always felt that being a member
of the EU was a good thing. I haven’t always had a lot of justification for
that and mostly it has just come down to an emotional feeling. I suppose that going through
history at school and having the World Wars forced down my throat like everyone
else had an effect on me. It has made me think we need to ensure that there is
unity and peace in Europe so that we never again see the type of terror that
once threatened all of our countries. Coming together under the banner of the
EU ensures peace and a common purpose.

There is a lot of discussion about
Europe now because we have guaranteed an ‘in-out’ referendum on the EU. The
Green Party agree with giving the UK people, including 16 and 17 year olds, a
chance to vote in a referendum on the EU. But the water is very muddy for
trying to understand what are the advantages and disadvantages of being a
member state.

Cutting the
red tape and other dangerous statements

David Cameron has told us that he
intends to work for reform in the EU and then campaign to stay in the EU. There are few people who would say that the EU
doesn’t need reform.

But the Tories and so-called
‘business leaders’ discuss the EU only in terms of what it can do for business
and this seriously limits the debate and the importance of the EU. As the
leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett, explained in an article
in the New Statesman the EU means so much more to people in the UK than just
business and trade. It is not the case that if a ‘good deal’ is not negotiated
for corporations that the EU project should be abandoned.

I was listening to Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme
on the 20th May in which they interviewed the President of the
Chartered Business Institute (CBI), Sir Mike Rake. The CBI is the main
organisation that lobbies for business against governments internationally.

During this interview Sir Mike Rake talked of
the need to change “petty regulation [ ] that doesn’t have an impact on
competitiveness and in fact may do the opposite”. When pushed as to whether “cutting
red tape” meant removal of worker’s rights, Sir Mike responded explained that
there is the need for “greater
flexibility” and “we don’t want regulations that don’t promote competitiveness”.

Sir Mike was then pushed as to
whether this meant he wanted to make it easier to fire people? Sir Mike said he
felt that businesses had not been willing to hire because of “inflexibility”. Again he was asked “Is that because it is hard to fire them?” to which he replied “Yes that
is part of it”.

What does
this mean?

It indicates the way business leaders
and the Tories feel. Sir Mike Rake should have said what he was really thinking
which I believe is this;

“Actually we
should stay in the EU but only if we can get rid of the fundamental rights
which protect workers from being fired willy-nilly by companies. It’s a bloody inconvenience
when you are trying to make loads of money to have to pay workers fairly and
not be able to fire them when you fancy it”

Big business and wealthy individuals
fund, and our the main beneficiaries, of Tory governments so you will notice how the language
Cameron et al use is very similar to that of Sir Mike. As with their policy of
austerity, the Government is demonstrating with their stance on the EU that
they do not care about working people and the majority of people in the UK.

In the guise of greater freedom and independence
in the EU there is a real risk to both of those concepts, namely, the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, better known as TTIP.

TTIP is a ‘trade deal’ that is
designed to give large companies complete free reign in European markets. One
particularly disturbing aspect of TTIP would allow
companies to bypass laws in countries if such tiny things as ‘workers rights’ or ‘public services’ stood in the
way of those companies making ever greater profits.

Sir Mike Rake along with the Tories,
UKIP, Labour and Lib Dems are all supporters
of TTIP.

The Green Party and Plaid Cmyru,
among others, oppose TTIP. The Green Party’s economic spokesperson Molly Scott
Cato, MEP has explained the details and dangers of TTIP and you can visit her website
here.

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing."Arundhati Roy

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I note that these blogs entries may not be the views of the Green Party, but could be considered campaign material during an election. It must therefore be noted they are printed by, promoted by and on behalf of the Stroud District Green Party, 2 The Laurels, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 6EL.